Martin Lewis urges anyone aged under 22 to check if they can claim £2,000

If you've lost track of a Child Trust Fund account, there are free and easy ways to locate it - in a new warning, Martin Lewis urged against paying a firm to do this for you

Martin Lewis has urged anyone aged 22 or under to check if they have a forgotten Child Trust Fund account.

Child Trust Funds were offered to children born between September 1, 2002 and January 2, 2011. Each child was given a voucher worth £250, or £500 for those from lower income families, to start their account. The idea was to encourage people to save, with families able to add up to £9,000 a year into a Child Trust Fund.

But if the parent failed to open a Child Trust Fund, then HMRC would have opened an account on behalf of the child. This means many accounts have been forgotten about - so you could have cash sitting in an account and not realise it. It is only possible for the child to access the money in their Child Trust Fund when they turn 18.

If you've lost track of a Child Trust Fund account, there are free and easy ways to locate it. In a new warning published on X/Twitter, Martin urged against paying a firm to do this for you. He said: "A warning to those age 22 or under. You may have £2,000 in a Child Trust Fund. You can access it for free. Yet some firms are trying to charge you to get your own money. Don’t pay."

Latest figures from HMRC show more than 670,000 people aged 18 to 22 have yet to claim their Child Trust Fund. The average savings pot is worth £2,212. Child Trust Fund accounts can no longer be opened, after the scheme stopped in 2011 - but you can continue to pay into existing accounts.

How to find a lost Child Trust Fund account

If you know the name of your Child Trust Fund provider, you can contact it directly to find out more about your account. If you've lost track of your account, you can ask HMRC to help you locate it by filling out a form on GOV.UK. You can ask HMRC to find a Child Trust Fund if you’re a parent or guardian of a child under 18, or if you’re 16 or over and looking for your own account.

You will need your National Insurance number and Government Gateway - this is free to create - to fill out the online form. Once you've entered the right information, HMRC should tell you the name of the Child Trust Fund provider within three weeks.

You can also request details by post by writing to: Charities, Savings and International 1, HMRC, BX9 1AU. Try to include as many details as possible, such as the full name, date of birth and address of the account holder, plus their National Insurance number.